THERE are some—nay many—people in this world who live in such a realm of optimism that they refuse to see facts as they are, or, seeing them, utterly refuse to admit them. The Word declares, “He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear”; and we must also say, with due reverence, “He that hath eyes to see, let him see!” There is no honest man who will deny, however, that we are living in a time when the morals of the world are, to say the very least, decidedly lax; when the seventh precept of the decalogue is looked upon as completely out of date; and when, consequently, the marriage tie is being lamentably loosened. To quote a concrete and recent example, The London Times for April 9, 1920, contained a report that Judge Joseph B. David, of the Superior Court of Illinois, had requested to be transferred to another court because he was “tired of hearing divorce cases.” Note carefully the judge’s remarkable reason:— The marriage laws are fast becoming meaningless, because the more divorces a woman has to her credit—or, rather, discredit—the more men she is able to get. Something must be done to prevent rich couples from slipping from one State to another in search of an easy and expeditious way of untying the marriage knot. . . . I have reached the decision to apply for transfer because I am convinced that marriage does not mean anything any more. I have reached this conclusion after sitting here, day after day, for many years. Perhaps my ideas are old-fashioned, but if they are, I believe in them, and I am glad I am getting out of this court. Nor is this condition confined to America. It is world-wide. The London correspondent of the Australian Christian World said this in the issue of June 18 about the divorce tide in England: “At the time of writing there is a terrifying list of cases waiting for the operations of the Divorce Court, cases representing all degrees of educational and social life.” And we need only to refer to our daily papers to see that Australia is not behind the other countries of the world in this matter. There was a time when civilisation looked upon the marriage tie as binding, as a religious as well as a civil contract. But today—things are different. We have come to the time when, in the general run of things, “marriage does not mean anything.” We have certainly reached the period in this world’s history when men and women are “lovers of their own selves,” “covetous,” “incontinent,” “headstrong,” and “unholy.” That period the Book calls “the last days,” the generation in which Christ should come.